Surface-finishing for floors, ceilings, &amp;c.



Patented Sept. l7, I90l.

J. J. BLAOKMAN. SURFACE FINISHING FOR FLOORS, CEILINGS. 8w.

(Application filed July 29, 1901.)

.122 mentor e oh'n J B lack man, fl a fits rflttorn e3 (No Model.)

Witnesses UNITED STATES.

PAT NT OFFICE.

JOHN J. BLACKMAN, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOGEORGE P. BBADSTREET, OF THOMASTON, CONNECTICUT.

SURFACEPFINISTHING FOR rtooas, canines, etc,

SEE-CIFICAILON forming part of Letters Patent No. 683,009, datedSeptember 17, 1901.

Original application filed January 14, 1901, Elerial No- 43,141. Dividedand this application filed July 29, 19,01. fierial Nq.

70,051. (No model) i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. BLACKMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSurface-Finishing for Floors, Ceilings, &c., of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to structural material, and especially to parquetryor surface finishes for floors, ceilings, articles of furniture, 850.

Primarily theobject of the invention is the provision of a finish forfloors, ceilings, tables, or objects in which tessellated material maybe employed with advantage, which is preferably formed of a plate havinga series of ribs or projections provided with sides formed as ogeccurves and also having curved tops, the plate being secured to thefloor,

- ceiling, or other structure and being inter locked with another platehaving a series of grooves corresponding to and adapted to receive theprojections, which plate serves as the exterior surface of the structureto which the invention is applied.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1. is 1 a perspective view of myinvention, showing it applied in series to a floor. Figs. 2 and 3 arerespectively perspective views of the top and bottom plates of myinvention detached. Fig. 4: is a perspective view of my invention, thetop plate beiugsevered on a diagonal line and being still retainedfirmly in posi- Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates asection of a floor, ceiling, or

other structure, or it may be the top of a table or other articleoffurniture, and the nuj meral 6 a base-plate, of rectangular or any:

desired form, which is securely fastened to the floor or other device inany desired Way, preferably by means of screws 7 passing throughperforations 8 in ribs or tongues 9 Designated by the numeral 10 is theupper.

plate of my invention, which is provided with a series of ribs ortongues 12, having flat or convex under faces 12 or 12 and being of ogeeform at their sides, as at 12 to fit'in the grooves 9 and interlock withthe tongues 9 of the base-plate (i, as represented in Figs. 1,4, and 6.

Preferably the base-plate (i is provided with a series of ribs 9, fivebeing shown, and the top plate 10 with a similar number of grooves, forby this construction the top plate may be severed on angular lines, asindicated at 13 in Fig. 4, or both plates maybe thus severed to causethem to fit into corners or other places (see Fig. 1) without liabilityof detaching one plate 'fronrtheother plate, as would be the'case werebut one or'two ribs or projections employed.

In surface-finishing of all kinds made of wood great'trouble has beenexperienced ow- 8o ing to the warping or buckling of the same due to theabsorption of moisture or to the employment of improperly-seasonedmaterial,

and when this occurs the finishing presents an unsightly appearanceand'is ruined for practical purposes. I Furthermore, in blockshavingribs with sharp dovetailed edges this warping or displacement ofthe material is liable to fracture said edges, and thereby impair theefficiency of the joint, and these sharp edges are frequently broken inhandling or while interlocking the blocks one with the other. It is adesideratum to reinforce the joint as much as possible and also toprovide an increased thickness of material 5 in the ribs to resist thetendency to buckle or curl up and also to so shape the edges of theinterlocking portions that they will be stronger and will fit moreaccurately when the one part is interlocked 'with the other part bysliding the ribs or projections of one plate into thecorrespondingly-shaped grooves of the other plate. Stated differently,the top 9" of each projection 9 being on a curve and the longitudinaledges being formed on ogee curves and the topv plate being formedwithgrooves in sides of ogee shape an interlock is produced which will be ofthe greatest efficiency under strains and in which the material is sodisposed as to afford the greatest resistance at the joints. It will beobserved that each projection or tongue is of course of greater diameterthrough its center, as shown by the line a, and gradually varies indiameter until the curved edge a is reached. It will also be observedthat the groove 9 in the top plate or block 10, said groove conformingto the projection, is'so arranged that the material of said top platewill be thicker at the points I) where the joint is formed thantat otherportions of its diameter, there- "by reinforcing the joint atthe placewhere i strength is mostneeded and preventing distortion, warpage, orbreakage of the material 'under the great strains sometimes due tonatural causes. Furthermore, by forming the edges of thetongues 9 in theshape of ogee curves these tongues may be readily made by machinery andcan be much more easily inserted into the grooves in the top plate thanif constructed in the shape of plain dovetails with sharp corners oredges, and all tendency to breakage of the projec tions of the tongueseither when under strain due to warpage or other causes or while beinginserted within the grooves of the complementary plate is therebyobviated. The tongues 12 intervening the grooves 9 of the top plate 10may either be formed flat on their faces, as shown at 12 in Fig. 6, ormay be formed on curved lines similar to the tongues 9, as shown bydotted lines 12 at the right in said figure, if desired. The are ofcurvature of thecurves 9in the bottom plate 6 or of the tongues 12 inthe top plate 10 may be varied as desired, provided that the resultsheretofore pointed out are accomplished thereby.

In the use of my invention a base-plate 6 is first firmly secured to thefloor or other surface by screws 7, passing through certain of the ribsor projections .9. The convex ribs of the top plate 10, with their edgesof ogee shape, are then inserted in the grooves of the base plate, andthe top plate is slid to position, flush at its sides and ends with theside and end walls of said base-plate.

My invention is not limitedto any particular material of which the topand bottom plates are to be constructed, and both of the plates may beformed of fireproof material, such as metal or porcelain, or the lowerplate may be made of metal or other fire-resisting material and theupper plate of wood, papiermach, or other plastic material. When bothplates are constructed of wood, the lower plate should have its grainlocated in a direction transverse to that of the grain of the upperplate, so that the twoplates when interlocked in proper position for usewill operate one to retain the other against warping or use, for it maywith advantage be employed in-parquetryand other relations.

No claim is herein made to a wood-flooring section comprising a baseadapted to be.

secured to a floor and a facing-plate independent of the base, butcorresponding in dimensions to the dimensions thereof, the upper face ofthe base and the lower face of the facing-plate being formed to beinterlocked with each other by sliding one upon the other, for thissubject-matteris fully described and claimed in my application filedJanuary 14, 1901, Serial No. 43,141, of which the present application isa division.

Having thus described myinvention, what lclaim isi 1. A surface-finishconsisting of a baseplate having a series of separated tongues or ribsextending across the same and each provided with sides formed as ogeecurves and with a curved top; and a top plate also having a series ofgrooves separated by tongues or ribs extendin g across said top plate,the walls of said grooves conforming to the projections of thebase-plate and being held in sliding en gage ment with said base-plateby interlocking the tongues or ribs of both said plates, and both platesbeing of the samedimensions.

2. The combination, witha support, of a base-plate having a number oftongues or ribs formed with overhanging sides of ogee shape and withcurved tops, said ribs extending across said base-plate; meansfor securing the base-plate to the support; and a top plate of the 1 samedimensions as the baseplate and also having a number of grooves, theside wallsof which are of ogee shape, and a series of tongues or ribswith overhanging edges, also of ogee shape, on its under side, thetongues or ribs of both plates being fitted in sliding and interlockingengagement with each other, and both plates being of the samedimensions.

3. A surface-finish consisting of a baseplate having a series ofseparated tongues or projections, each tongue having a convex top andoverhanging sides of ogee shape; and a top plate having a series ofseparated grooves, each groove having a rounded rear wall and side wallsof ogee shape, and both plates being of the same dimensions,substantially as described.

JOHN J. BLACKMAN.

Witnesses: v

HENRY BISSELL, E. M. WILOOX.

ICC

